Buried Memories
by Kingsforcedvacation
Summary: Doc Green makes an invention that makes people sing about life changing moments. In true Griffin Rock fashion it goes wrong and hits Chase. What will he sing about? Complete one-shot


"Hey Doc," Cody said as he walked into the lab with his family, the bots, and Optimus Prime who had come to check on the Rescue Team. "What is this invention you wanted to show us?"

Doctor Green was bent over a table with a strange device layer on it.

"You remember the auto tuning device I created a while ago?" Doc asked, looking up.

"Who could forget?" Heatwave muttered.

"Of course," Dani said, smiling at the memory.

"Well, all the singing got me thinking, people use song as a way to express their emotions, right?" Doc said with a smile.

The humans in the room nodded.

"So I thought that if I could modify my device it could be used to express the emotions one is feeling about a life changing event. For example trauma victims can sing about the event and vent all their emotions into the song, allowing it to become more easily dealt with. In a less extreme case it can be used by ordinary people to share how they feel about a subject, event, or even a person," Doc Green finished.

That got a reaction as everyone thought of the variety of uses for the device.

"Noble!"

"Wow daddy! That's amazing!" Frankie exclaimed as she stared at the strangely shaped device.

"That could definitely be a useful tool, Doctor Green," Optimus agreed, thinking of all his soldiers and what they have had to faced in the war with the Decepticon.

"So how do you decide what event to sing about?" Graham asked, pushing up his glasses.

"I haven't quiet finished fine tuning that part," he admitted sheepishly. "At the moment the device will target the most life changing event you have experienced."

"And what if you get caught by the device accidentally?" Heatwave asked, staring at the device suspiciously. "It could be disastrous if it brought back memories for someone who is not ready to deal with them, or if they already have dealt with a bad memory, especially if it brings back all of the emotions."

"I concur," Chase agreed.

"Oh my, I'm afraid I hadn't thought about that part yet," the Doc said, biting his bottom lip. "I should take it back and continue working on it."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"I can't wait till it's finished!" Blades exclaimed as Doc move to pick up the device. "I love singing!"

Doc Green smiled at that as he turned around with the device in his arms, that was when Griffin Rock's infamous luck kicked in. As Doc Green went to take a step, his foot got tangled in a wire that was hanging from the table and he tripped, sending the device flying. When it hit the ground it produce a single beam of light that hit Chase right in the middle of the chest.

"Tesla's Coil!" Doc Green cursed.

"Chase!"

"Are you all right?" Chief Burns asked.

"I am fully functional," Chase replied in his usual monotone.

"The device takes a few minutes to start," Doc explained as he stood up and brushed himself off.

Everyone looked at Chase with worry.

"Wait! Why are we acting like it's the end of the world? All the device targets is life changing events, that doesn't necessarily mean it's a bad memory," Blades reasoned. "Right, Chase?"

Chase looked away as everyone turned to him.

"Oh," Blades said glumly.

"It could be a different memory than the one you are thinking about," Dani offered optimistically.

Chase shook his head, "It can only be one event."

"We can leave while you sing the song," Boulder tried.

"I'm afraid not," Doc interrupted. "I intended for this to be used on trauma victims, as a failsafe I made it to where there must be at least one person with them when they sing, so they didn't do anything drastic."

"Wait what happens if they don't sing?" Kade asked.

"They will seek out whoever is closest."

Everyone cringed.

"One of us can sit in here and plug our ears," Graham said.

"That would work."

"That will be unnecessary," Chase stated.

"What?"

"I trust all of you." He stated simply. "It is also time I told somebody about what happened."

Everyone was touched, that he would share a life changing moment with them was huge, after all he had told no one about his past. Though that might be because no one had asked everyone thought guiltily.

"I will feel the emotions I experienced at the event?" Chase asked, Doc nodded. "Then I apologize in advance for what I might do, and I shall probably require the use of Heatwaves training dummy depending on how long the emotions linger."

Kade snorted, "Don't worry about it, if you react anywhere close to how you usually do, then we can take it."

Chase thought about warning them but decided against it, he already gave an apology that should be warning enough.

"So how will the device know what to make him sing?" Cody asked.

"It will probably find a song he has listened to and modify it to suit the event," Doc theorized. "Every word will mean something, so listen close if you want to really understand what he is singing about."

"I think it's starting," Chief Burns said from where he had been observing his partner.

"Then stay back and let him."

Everyone stood back.

"_Welcome_

_Everyone, please stay on your seats_

_The show will begin momentarily,"_ Chase began in a flat emotionless voice.

"Why did he apologize? He sounds very unemotional," Kade commented.

Everyone else was confused as well, though Chief Burns, and Heatwave were more worried about what he meant by show.

"_Behold the horrors," _Chase sang this time. _"They lurk beneath the shadows of remorse."_

There was more emotion this time, they noted, but what did he mean about horrors?

_"__You wouldn't know of course," _Chase sneered causing many to jump back.

_"__But I forced a new judgement day _

_On this day you will repay_

_Your respects to all that may_

_Lurk in between your mind and mankind."_

"Judgement day?" Cody muttered trying to figure it out.

"You usually need a judgement day when a grievous crime is committed by someone high up," Frankie said.

"Or someone considered untouchable," Optimus added.

"But Chase usually trusts the law, this sounds like he took matters into his own hands," Graham said thoughtfully.

"How about the line 'between your mind and mankind'? Could he mean someone emotionless or cruel?" Chief Burns asked.

No one had an answer.

"_So have a seat and be afraid_

_Fears about to commence the final ritual _

_One body is all we need for this to be complete."_

"He sound so vengeful," Blades said with a shiver.

It was so different from the usual Chase to be so emotional and forceful. In fact it almost sounds like he was going to kill someone.

_"__And when the day begins to take form_

_You won't be leaving these doors_

_You'll only live with us inside the darkness_

_As we tear you up inside."_

"He said we," Boulders said. "What ever happened it didn't happen to him alone."

The bots shared worried looks as everyone tried to ignore the implications of this set of lines.

"_I WAS LEFT BEHIND!"_ Chase almost screamed.

Everyone jumped back in surprise.

"Left behind? What exactly was he before he became a Rescue Bot?" Chief Burns asked.

"Before the Rescue Bots he was an Enforcer, a type of police officer," Heatwave said. "But when I met him he had only been an enforcer for a few decades."

"'Only' he says," Kade muttered but was ignored.

"That is strange," Optimus Prime spoke up. "His file has no mention of what he was before he was an Enforcer."

"How unusual is that?" Dani asked.

"Extremely."

_"__All this torture will unwind."_

"Torture?!" Everyone gasped.

The thought that Chase had been tortured was one that had never crossed anyones mind. How could it have happened though? Chase was a kind, if emotionally stunted, bot. Who would want to hurt him?

_"__I was never all that kind."_

Never all that kind? He was kind, wasn't he? He always helped people, he always… did his job.

_"__If you were to rewind_

_Then you would find_

_I was left behind_

_Take your turn to run and hide_

_I will catch you all the time_

_This knight no longer shines."_

"Knight? As in a knight in shining armer? That would mean he was a soldier or a guard of some kind," Doc Green reasoned.

"It also means he understood more about our culture than we thought he did."

_"__Your tears divine_

_You'll now be mine!_

_Behold the terrors_

_You wont believe_

_What I have done to you_

_I've made it look brand new_

_Oh how cute," _Chase sang in a cruel voice.

"What did he make look brand new?" Frankie asked. No one had any answers.

"_But don't digress_

_I'm the ring master you see_

_In this horror game you flee_

_I take up every shadow_

_Believe me."_

"It sounds like he hunted down whoever tortured him," Graham said.

"_Now have a seat_

_And grab your light _

_Tears begin to run you dry_

_But darkened thoughts are the command grounds_

_I give myself to be complete."_

"Common grounds?" Cade muttered

"I think we are right in assuming that Chase was held with others, and from the sound of it they bonded together to turn the tables on their captors," Chief Burns said grimly.

_"__Be as it may _

_Our courtesy remains_

_So we offer you_

_Our darkest passion_

_Take off that blind fold that heals_

_And reveal your soul that dies."_

"Reveal your soul? Definitely Cybertronian," Heatwave growled in disgust.

"I don't want to know what their darkest passion consists of," Dani said with a shutter.

_" __I WAS LEFT BEHIND_

_All this torture will unwind_

_I was never all that kind_

_If you were to rewind_

_Then you would find_

_I was left behind_

_Take your turn to run and hide_

_I will catch you all the time_

_This knight no longer shines_

_Your tears divine_

_You'll now be mine!_

_You dare bring your filth into my lair?_

_WELL THEN_

_LET US DECEND," _Chase growled.

"_Re-born again_

_Our suits are now refined_

_Breathing new life_

_Inside our tombs tonight."_

"Suits? Sounds like they modified their armer," Bolder commented.

"I don't even want to speculate what re-born again means," Blades said with a shiver.

Chase turned and looked directly at them when he spoke the next line.

"_You have no idea what we've been through_

_Time and time again_

_Don't hold it on our deadliest demise_

_We can't keep you alive!_

_All this torture will unwind_

_Take it from our broken crimes_

_We have no place to go_

_But you would know_

_Take your turn to run and flee_

_But deaths your destiny_

_Stop holding back from me."_

"Chase committing crimes? That's almost an oxymoron," Doc Green tried to joke, it fell flat.

_"__They burned it all down!_

_They burned us alive_

_They made us look like clowns_

_Our souls arise_

_But like the jester said to the king_

_There is bad news I bring_

_Now let the night begin!"_

"Burned us alive," Blades whimpered along with a few others.

_"__I WAS LEFT BEHIND_

_All this torture will unwind_

_I was never all that kind_

_If you were to rewind_

_Then you would find_

_I was left behind_

_Take your turn to run and hide_

_I will catch you all the time_

_This might no longer shines_

_Your tears divine_

_You'll now be mine!"_

Chase returned not the monotone voice from the beginning.

_"__We hope you enjoyed the show_

_With in your grave down below."_

"That was intense," Dani said with a small gulp.

"I won't apologize again," Chase almost growled causing some to flinch.

"Will you tell us what happened?" Optimus asked softly.

Chase gave the Prime a searching look. No one knew what he was looking for but he must have found it, because Chase nodded.

Taking a deep breath he began, "Before I was an Enforcer I was part of the Autobot army."

"What?" Everyone exclaimed.

"There is no recored of you," Optimus prompted.

"I had a different name back then, and no I will not tell it to you," Chase said with a small glare before anyone could ask. "I was relatively new to the army, nobody important, just another face in the crowd. Because of that I always got stuck with patrolling the borders of our camp, alone usually though I was supposed to have a partner. It was on one of these patrols that I got hit from behind. When I woke up I was in a cell surrounded by other bots. It was only after the whole ordeal that I found out that my camp didn't bother to look for me, just marked me as a deserter and left it at that."

Optimus's optics were wide in horror at the treatment Chase had received. He had been in control of the army for centuries by the time the Rescue Bots where put in stasis, for someone under his command to have been treated so badly…

Chase caught the look in Optimus's optics and shook his head, "It was before you became Prime."

"But-" Optimus started, for him to have been in the army before he had become a Prime…

"I'm much older than I look," was all Chase said.

Optimus nodded but everyone else was confused about the exchange.

"What just happened?" Kade whispered.

"No idea," Dani replied.

"Back to the story. After I woke up in the cell I found out I had been captured by Decepticon scientists who were in need of test subjects. The war had not gotten bad yet, but the Decepticons knew it would get worse before it got better, so they planned ahead. The scientists were tasked with creating super soldiers, for lack of a better term. I was one of the few that survived the first wave of experiments. After that time lost all meaning. Experiment after experiment was preformed, and I survived them all, for reasons unknown. Their mistake was keeping me and a few others alive after the experiments were proven successful."

"You became a supper soldier," Cody concluded.

"And with that you conspired with the others to overpower the scientist," Frankie continued.

"Correct. We had a plan but before we could enact it I was brought in for one more experiment."

That caused tension in the room to spike.

"They had succeeded in making us stronger, faster, smarter, but what use was a soldier that felt fear?"

Sharp intakes were heard around the room.

"By that point I think they were planing on keeping me, and they chose me for the experiment so that I would not rebel. The thing is, our emotions are directly linked to our sparks, so to remove an emotion they had to burn it out."

"_They burned us alive," _ Heatwave quoted in horror.

"That's why you don't show much emotion," Boulder realized.

"And that's why the beginning and end of the song was monotone, those parts came after the fact," Doc Green said.

"They didn't manage to remove all my emotions, of course, but I will never be as expressive as you," Chase explained before continuing with the story. "After the experiment we over powered the scientists, like you said. We hunted them down one by one, taking our revenge. You can't hold it against us, not after all they did to us, and we really didn't care about a moral high road. Instead we tortured them like they did us, but we didn't make the mistake of keeping them alive."

As Chase said that he looked directly at Chief Burns. The Chief knew why. Chase had tortured and murdered several people, and he wanted to see how the Chief reacted to that fact. The Chief faced Chases' searching gaze head on. Chase had been through a lot by that point, more than the Chief would ever understand. While he would have preferred Chase not to have hurt anyone he won't condemn him for what he did, not for this.

Chase gave him a faint smile before returning to his story, "We did it to all of the scientists, all except one. One got away. I'm sure you know him, Optimus."

Optimus thought for a minute before his optics widened, "Shockwave. A little bit after I became Prime Shockwave's true allegiance and his illegal experiments came to light because of an experiment gone wrong. That was you."

"Yes," Chase agreed. "A few days after we finished our revenge the Senate stormed the compound and realized what happened. They took us from there, we had stayed because we had no where to go, and reprogramed us."

The bots gasped.

"So you escaped all the experiments just to be subjected to another one?" Heatwave almost screamed in outrage. Chase was part of his team, his to protect, he felt like he failed.

"Yes. Unfortunately many were too weak to withstand the procedure and off-lined. I survived with just a few glitches. They gave me a new identity, everything from my name to my job."

"And your fine with that?" Dani screeched.

"I have little emotions left, why would I waste them feeling injustice over what happened long ago or anger at bots that are dead?" Chase asked.

"But they- they," Dani couldn't continue with how much she was shaking in anger.

"Yes they reprogramed me but it in the long run it was for the best. If they hadn't have taken us where would I be? We had no home, no energon, no money, no way to get a job, no clue where we were, and we were in no state to work even if we did. We would have starved to death long before the war began in earnest, if I used that saying right."

"I guess you are right," Dani said eventually.

"Out of curiosity, what is the glitch?" Graham asked.

Chase gave a dry smile, "An obsession over rules and regulations."

Everyone bursted out laughing, the tension draining out of the room. Blades came up and gave him a hug, while everyone else let him know, in their own way, that nothing had changed between them.

"Do you feel better?" Doc Green asked eventually.

Chase paused and looked over the group. Not one of them and scorned him or been disgusted by what he had done. They had accepted him and even got angry on his behalf. It had been more than he had dared to hope for.

"Yes, but I'm still going to borrow Heatwaves training dummy."

Heatwave laughed and threw his arm over his shoulder, "It's all yours buddy. It's all yours."

**The song is Left Behind (Sister Location) by Dagames. I don't own it.**


End file.
